I feel that training with a live blade (in a safe invironment with serious and experienced students) is a very important thing. A bokken gives you a false subconcious sense of security. This means that if a student is faced with a live weapon, he or she hesitates. This hesitation will, most likely, cost the victim their life. Given the choice of where I want a live weapon to be used on me and whom I want to be using it, I choose the dojo! I am willing to get a few cuts and maybe even some stitches to attain this mental preperation that will help to save my life. Understand that I still feel it is important to do this with the upmost caution and in a mature and serious environment and only with the students with the most bokken experience. I also wish to point out that the possibility of meeting up with an attacker with a live blade is a very real possibility. I live in a rual area in Tennessee and even here there was a case in which a person was decapitated with a sword (scary huh). Thanks for reading and posting. Kevin Ashworth